How often have you been driving down the road past that dead deer you saw lying at the edge of the highway and spotted a couple of turkey vultures feasting on the deer remains? If you don’t see vultures feasting on the deer or other carrion, you are likely to spot them perched in a nearby tree or circling overhead, waiting for an opportunity to descend on their next meal.
The scenario just mentioned came to mind when I was recently talking with a friend, Don Hendricks, who wanted to show me some interesting photos he had taken. With the camera in his phone, he captured the photo accompanying this article of a mature bald eagle feeding on a dead deer.
Sure, we’re used to seeing vultures feeding on something dead along a highway but catching sight of a bald eagle eating carrion is a lot less common.
Several years ago, while driving along a local highway, I saw the same thing: a mature bald eagle standing on a dead deer, ripping chunks of meat with its beak. I’ve only ever seen that one time, and it’s very common to spot vultures in that situation. Although vultures will occasionally attack and eat a small bird, they predominantly feed on carrion.
Eagles, on the other hand, feed mainly by attacking and killing live prey. Actually, 60-90 percent of an eagle’s diet consists of fish, and they mainly focus on live fish, but they will also take dead fish.
On more than one occasion, I have witnessed eagles “fishing” on the same stream that I was fishing. While casting a dry fly over rising trout on Muncy Creek one afternoon, I watched a mature bald eagle swoop down and pick off a good-sized trout only 40 yards above me.
Fish feeding on those dry flies spend a lot of time near the surface, making them prime targets for perched or soaring eagles.
Many of our streams are stocked with golden trout these days. Because of its bright, very obvious golden color, it’s a prime target for fishermen, but I suspect it’s also a prime target for eagles since it sticks out like a sore thumb.
I remember another time some buddies and I were ice fishing at the lake at Bald Eagle State Park. We were all catching some fish — perch, bluegills, and crappies and throwing them out on the ice nearby to be collected when we got ready to leave. I couldn’t believe it when, not too far down the lake, I watched a soaring bald eagle swoop down and grab a fish lying on the ice not far from one of our fishing buddies.
Hey, fish are a little harder to come by after everything freezes up, so I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that an eagle swooped down and grabbed that fish flopping around on the ice.
I’ve noticed in recent years that we often see eagles perched in trees along the lake, not only during the ice fishing season but also during the summer months. Why? Injured or dying fish often show up, making for an easy meal for a waiting eagle.
I understand that eagle behavior; I like to take a batch of perch and crappies home as well — they make a great-tasting meal.
